The Constitutional Convention
J.W Peltason
(The following article by J.W. Peltason is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication,
About America: The Constitution of the United States of America with Explanatory Notes.)
The Constitutional Convention
By J.W. Peltason
The Convention was supposed to open on May 14, 1787. But few of the 55 delegates had
arrived in Philadelphia by that date. Finally, on May 25, the Convention formally opened in
Independence Hall. Twelve states had responded to the call for the Convention. Rhode Island
had refused to send delegates because it did not want the national government to interfere with
Rhode Island’s affairs.
Of the 55 delegates, 39 signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787. One of the
signers was John Dickinson of Delaware, who left the Convention but asked another delegate,
George Read, to sign for him. William Jackson, the Convention secretary, witnessed the
signatures. The delegates included some of the most experienced and patriotic men in the new
republic. George Washington served as president of the Convention. Benjamin Franklin, at the
age of 81, attended as a Representative of Pennsylvania. The brilliant Alexander Hamilton
represented New York. James Madison of Virginia received the title of “Father of the
Constitution” with his speeches, negotiations, and attempts at compromise. Madison told the
delegates they were considering a plan that would “decide forever the fate of republican
government.” He kept a record of the delegates’ debates and decisions.
Other men who had much to do with writing the Constitution included John Dickinson,
Gouverneur Morris, Edmund Randolph, Roger Sherman, James Wilson, and George Wythe.
Morris was probably the most influential delegate after Madison and Washington. He was given
the task of putting all the Convention’s resolutions and decisions into polished form. Morris
actually “wrote” the Constitution. An original copy of the document is preserved in the National
Archives building in Washington, D.C.
Several important figures of the time did not attend the Convention. John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson were absent abroad on other government duties. Samuel Adams and John Jay failed to
be appointed delegates from their states. Patrick Henry refused to serve after his appointment
because he opposed granting any more power to the national government. Three leading
members of the convention – Elbridge Gerry, George Mason, and Edmund Randolph – refused
to sign the Constitution because they disagreed with parts of it.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE CONSTITUTION
Benjamin Franklin, representing Pennsylvania at the Constitutional Convention. (Library of
Congress)
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The delegates to the Constitutional Convention relied greatly on past experience as they worked
to create a new government. They recalled many important events in the development of
constitutional government. These included the granting of Magna Carta, an English
constitutional document, in 1215, and the meeting of the Jamestown Representative Assembly in
1619. Some of the colonies also served as examples of constitutional forms of government.
Colonial governments had weaknesses but had progressed beyond other governments of their
time in achieving liberty under law.
About the time of the Revolutionary War, several American states established constitutional
governments. In 1777, John Jay of New York had helped write a constitution for his state. John
Adams of Massachusetts had helped write the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. Delegates to
the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia used many ideas and words from the constitutions
of these and other states.
The delegates also drew on their own experiences. For example, Benjamin Franklin had
proposed a plan at the Albany Congress of 1754 to unify the colonies under a central
government. Washington remembered his own problems during the war when, as Commanderin-Chief, he had to work with the weak Confederation government. Almost every delegate to the
Convention had served as a soldier or administrator of the government. The delegates often
disagreed on details but were united in wanting the new government to be strong enough to rule
the nation, but not so strong as to threaten the liberties of the states and of the people.
THE COMPROMISES
The task of creating a new government was not easily accomplished. Disputes among the
delegates nearly ended the Convention on several occasions. For example, delegates from the
large and more populous states disagreed with those from the small states about representation in
the national legislature. The larger states favored the Virginia Plan, under which population
would determine the number of representatives a state could send to the legislature. The smaller
states supported the New Jersey Plan, which proposed that all the states would have an equal
number of representatives. The Connecticut delegates suggested a compromise that settled the
problem. Their plan provided for equal representation in the Senate, along with representation in
proportion to population in the House of Representatives. This proposal became known as the
Connecticut Compromise or the Great Compromise.
Compromises also settled conflicts over the issue of slavery. The delegates from the Northern
states wanted Congress to have the power to forbid the foreign slave trade and eventually to
abolish slavery. Most Southern delegates did not wish Congress to have this power. A
compromise decided that Congress would not be allowed to regulate the foreign slave trade until
1808. Another compromise involved the question of how to count slaves in determining the
number of congressmen a state could have. Slaves were not considered citizens, and so the
Convention agreed that only three-fifths of them could be counted.
The delegates agreed that each state should hold a special convention to discuss and vote on the
Constitution. They also decided that as soon as nine states had ratified (approved) the
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Constitution, the Constitution would take effect and they could begin to organize their new
government.
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